Researchers
at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology)
have demonstrated that under specific conditions, humans can treat robots as
co-authors of the results of their actions. The condition that enables this
phenomenon is that a robot behaves in a human-like, social manner. Engaging in
gaze contact and participating in a common emotional experience, such as
watching a movie, are the key.
The study was published in Science
Robotics and paves the way for understanding and designing the optimal
circumstances for humans and robots to collaborate in the same environment.
The research study has been coordinated
by Agnieszka Wykowska, head of IIT's Social Cognition in Human-Robot
Interaction lab in Genova, and a researcher on a project titled "Intentional Stance for
Social Attunement," which addresses the question of when and under what
conditions people treat robots as intentional agents.
Uma Navare, the first author of the
paper and a member of Wykowska's team, ran the study using behavioral measures
and neural responses registered by electroencephalography (EEG), to evaluate
the emergence of a shared control mechanism between humans and the humanoid robot iCub.
"As humans, we do not act in a
social vacuum and most of our actions require coordination with others in space
and time to achieve a goal. A crucial aspect of interacting with others is the
experience of what is called the sense of joint agency," explains
Agnieszka Wykowska. "In our research study, we discovered that humans
experienced this sense of joint agency with the robot partner when it was
presented as an intentional agent, but not when it was presented as a
mechanical artifact."
Credit: IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
The
sense of joint agency refers to the feeling of control that humans experience
both in their own and their partner's actions, thus underlying team building.
IIT researchers investigated it by first identifying its mechanisms in
human-human interactions and then testing whether similar responses would occur
in human-robot
interaction. The
interaction task consisted of moving an onscreen cursor to a target location
and then confirming the position of the cursor on the target, thereby
triggering a tone.
In two experiments, researchers
manipulated the attribution of intentionality, that is human-likeness, to the
robot iCub. In the first experiment, iCub performed a task mechanically,
leading participants to see it as a mechanical artifact. In the second experiment,
participants first interacted with iCub in a way that increased the likelihood
of attributing intentionality to it. This involved dialogue, gaze exchange and
watching videos together, where iCub displayed human-like emotional responses.
This aimed to make participants perceive iCub as more intentional and
human-like.
Researchers found that only in the
second experiment, humans felt jointly a sense of agency with the humanoid
robot, evidenced by both behavioral and neuronal responses.
This result shows that proper teamwork with a robot is more likely to occur when the robot is perceived as an intentional and social agent, but not when it is seen as a mechanical device. It informs what the optimal circumstances are for humans and robots to collaborate towards shared goals in daily life.
by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies
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